On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the
American Toy Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was
the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with
adult features.

Barbie creator Ruth Handler (1916 – 2002) with some of
Barbie and Mattel products (1961).

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll goes on display at
the American Toy Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie
was the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States
with adult features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth
Handler, who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband
in 1945.

Ruth Marianna Handler (November 4, 1916 – April 27, 2002)

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went on display at the
American Toy Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was
the first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult
features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who
co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband (below) in 1945. 
        
        
        
        
        
       

Elliott and Ruth Handler

Mattel’s headquarters and factory near LAX in 1956.

The Cabbage Patch Kids doll brand set every toy industry sales
record for three years running, and was one of the most popular
lines of children’s licensed products in the 1980s and has
become one of the longest-running doll franchises in the
United States.

Cabbage Patch creator Xavier Roberts, below, copyrighted his
design in 1976 and sold the rights to company Giant Coleco in
1982. Dolls that were made prior to the Coleco handover are
worth the most.

On March 9, 1959, the first Barbie doll went  on display at the
American Toy Fair in New York City.

Eleven inches tall, with a waterfall of blond hair, Barbie was the
first mass-produced toy doll in the United States with adult
features. The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler, who co-
founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband in 1945. After seeing her
young daughter ignore her baby dolls to play make-believe with
paper dolls of adult women, Handler realized there was an
important niche in the market for a toy that allowed little girls
to imagine the future.

First Barbie TV commercial in 1959.

The woman behind Barbie was Ruth Handler,who co-founded Mattel, Inc. with her husband in 1945.